1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to adjustable clothes hangers for hanging clothes of various sizes.
2. Description of Related Art
Clothes hangers, also called garment hangers, coat hangers, or just hangers, have long been known in the art. Hangers can be constructed from metal wire, wood, plastic or a combination of these materials. Commercially available hangers are a fixed length and cannot be adjusted for garments of different sizes.
Shirts, jackets, sweaters, coats, blouses and certain dresses all have seams which connect the sleeves to the torso portion of the garment. A hanger of incorrect length terminates either on the shoulder or on the sleeve, leaving unsightly wrinkles and stretch marks. A hanger of proper length terminates at the seam, a reinforced portion of the garment, thereby preventing any wrinkles or stretch marks.
Although fixed length hangers may be the proper size for some articles of clothing, very few garments have seams in the same place. It is therefore desirable to have an adjustable length hanger. Additionally, fixed length hangers may be too small for garments with wide neck openings.
Patents have been granted to several designs which attempt to solve the problem of fixed length hangers. The majority of these patents are to designs which require fabrication of an entire hanger. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,358 to Lam describes an extendable arm which is pivotally mounted to engage and disengage the support arm of the hanger. U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,199 to Halverson describes an extendable arm and a support arm which are slidably engaged with each other through gripping members.
A major problem with these designs is the cost involved in producing the hangers. A typical plastic hanger is injection-molded and can be mass-produced at a very low cost. The prior art designs are complex and cost much more than standard fixed length hangers to produce.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,335,285 to Kinney teaches a complex design which allows adjustable hinged shoulder supports to lock onto a base which is attached to a metal wire hanger. Although the invention uses a pre-existing hanger, it is far too complex to be produced cheaply.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,884,171 to Knuth teaches a simpler pressure-mounted cardboard design, but is intended for wire hangers and still requires expensive fabrication.
What is needed is a clothes hanger extender which overcomes the shortfalls of the devices which are currently known in the art.